Glaxo, Merck Support Effort to Boost Vaccine Access

GlaxoSmithKline Plc and Merck & Co. agreed to lower prices for vaccines to protect children against potentially deadly diarrhea, supporting an international effort to help least-developed nations fight diseases. The GAVI Alliance, set up by Microsoft Corp. founder Bill Gates to give the world’s poorest people better access to life- saving immunizations, also received commitments from India-based drugmakers Serum Institute of India Ltd. and Panacea Biotec Ltd. to cut the price of a key pediatric vaccine, it said today. The agreements will help the alliance prevent an extra 4 million deaths by 2015 by rolling out new vaccines to tackle the main killers of children: pneumonia and diarrhea. The Geneva- based group’s donors and partners are meeting in London next week as they seek $3.7 billion to expand immunization programs over the next five years.  More…

News selected by Covalence | Country: Global | Company: GlaxoSmithKline, Merck & Co. | Source: Bloomberg